Topic: Amazon

Introduced this summer at WWDC17, Apple's HomePod was immediately positioned next to Amazon Echo and Google Home by bloggers as a "smart speaker" serving primarily as a way to chat with a voice assistant. But that's not how Apple introduced it.

New reports are circulating that the long-awaited Amazon Prime Video app for the Apple TV is being evaluated by Amazon employees -- but several rumored release dates have come and gone, and neither Apple nor Amazon are saying anything about it.

Just days after Apple delayed its HomePod speaker and personal assistant into 2018, Amazon's low-priced Echo Dot was the company's top seller over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, giving the online retailer an even greater lead over rivals in the home speaker market.

Amazon on Monday announced Sumerian, a platform for developers wanting to make virtual reality, augmented reality, and other 3D apps, including ones compatible with Apple's ARKit framework used on iPhones and iPads.

Apple recently announced that its highly anticipated premium HomePod speaker won't launch in December as was originally planned. AppleInsider brings you up to speed with everything you need to know about the HomePod's delay until 2018.

For now, Amazon has allegedly jettisoned plans to offer a "skinny" bundle of cable and broadcast TV channels, owing to low expected profit margins and the same problem rumored to have halted Apple's bundle: resistance from networks.

Raising a potential threat to Apple's TV plans, people wanting to watch Amazon's movies and TV shows may soon be able to stream without paying for a Prime subscription, which normally costs $99 per year. [Updated with official denial from Amazon]

Amazon has become the latest major retailer to embrace Apple's ARKit, with an update to its iOS shopping app providing its customers the ability to see how a selection of its products will look within their home using augmented reality.

Today only, Apple's 2015 12" MacBooks (certified refurbished) are marked down to $799 during Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day. Or opt for an upgraded model with a faster 1.2GHz processor and 512GB of storage space for $899, a discount of $400 off, with free shipping and no interest if paid in full within 12 months with an Amazon.com Store Card.

Amazon on Wednesday announced the Cloud Cam, its first entry into HomeKit-style smarthome products. In parallel it revealed "Amazon Key," an option for Prime members that will let delivery drivers leave a package inside a home.

Shortly after the unveiling of the Apple TV 4K, Amazon has updated its own high-resolution streaming set-top box lines by upgrading the Fire TV, with the improvements including HDR and Dolby Atmos support, more power, and a physical makeover, as well as a lower price point.

A listing for the 64-gigabyte version of the Apple TV 4K on Amazon is briefly buoyed hopes for an imminent release of an Amazon Prime Video app for Apple's set-top box-- but the listing has since been removed by the e-commerce giant.

Following in the footsteps of Apple and Google, Amazon appears ready to start the process to build a massive headquarters in North America -- but for Amazon it will serve as a second base of operations to supplement its existing headquarters in Seattle, Wash.